Piece of My Heart
by Giantpanda
Summary: Set after the episode Numbers, Shannon waits for Sayid to return and talks with him.


TITLE: Piece of My Heart

RATING:PG

SUMMARY: Set after the episode Numbers, Shannon waits for Sayid to return and talks with him.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters from Lost and am not making a profit. If they were mine, then there would be more Shayid moments.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is my first story for Shannon and Sayid and I would appreciate any feedback on how I can improve. I hope you enjoy the story.

Shannon had done a million things during the day trying to keep her mind off the fact that Sayid was out in the jungle. She had been more useful in those hours then the entire time that they had been on the island. She had tried to ignore the surprised looks on everyone's faces and deep down it had felt good to be helpful. Although if she was being completely honest with herself spending time with Sayid was much better than feeling helpful. She looked up and noticed that the sun was beginning to dip down near the horizon. She looked anxiously towards the forest; hoping he would be back soon.

Shannon sighed to herself, she wasn't used to this feeling of worry. It was the first time that she had really thought of someone else's well being. And she didn't really like it. She hated the feeling in her stomach that grew worse with each passing second. She hated felling helpless, unable to do anything to stop it until she saw Sayid standing in front of her. She couldn't help but wonder when he had started to become so important to her. At first, he had asked her to help translate those maps and begrudgingly she had helped. However, at some point helping had become something more. She had started to look forward to meeting with him, to talking and laughing and soon translating the maps was what they spent the least amount of time on.

She closed her eyes as she tried to remember the exact moment when it became more about Sayid then the maps. She smiled as she thought about the silly jokes and how he could make her laugh more then anyone else, but she knew that wasn't it. One thing was that he treated her like a real person, he wasn't using her for money or sex, like most of the guys she had dated before, and he respected her. She had realized quickly that she didn't need to pretend for him, she could say stupid things and know that he would still care. It was also in the way he looked at her, different then the way she was used to. Shannon shivered as she thought about his deep eyes gazing at her. She pulled her shawl closer as she realized that the sun had gone down completely.

He had said that he would be back at nightfall. She bit her lip as all the horrible things that could have happened ran through her mind. She then took a few deep breathes to calm herself down, they were just running a little late, that was all that it was all. Yet she still couldn't shake her worry. Shannon thought of getting her nail polish out, just so that she could be doing something but she knew that her hands were shaking and it would turn out to be a mess. Where was he? Where were all of them, she amended, trying to think about the rest of the members of that trip. But Sayid was the only one that mattered. She didn't want anything to happen to him. She was falling in… She shook her head hoping that those thoughts would tumble out; she was not in any way falling in love with him. She didn't love guys; she used them just as they used her.

But deep down she knew that she was falling for him, as much as she hated to admit it and tried to push those feelings away. Those types of feelings hurt, which she had found out years ago and had shut off. Now the walls were crumbling and Sayid was working his way in. She needed to stop it, but the more she thought about it, the more she hated that idea. Could she really push him away? Could she see him and not talk or touch him ever again? Shannon sighed again as she realized that no, she couldn't. Just not knowing if he was ok was tearing her up. She was beginning to think that the feelings might be worth it, maybe this time, she won't be hurt and she wouldn't hurt Sayid. Now was the issue of what she should tell him. She thought for a moment then realized that she shouldn't tell him anything. Just because she was falling for him didn't mean that he needed to have that knowledge just yet.

Jack's voice interrupted her thoughts and she breathed a sigh of relief. However, she still checked, moving her head just a little, since she had positioned herself to see the moment that he arrived, to make sure that Sayid was standing with them. With every bit of energy she had she suppressed the desire to run over to him and jump into his arms and never let him go. She didn't believe that he would like that kind of attention, although in all honesty she had no idea.

Shannon saw him looking around and couldn't stop herself from wondering if he was looking for her. She was going to call out to him, when his eyes meet hers and he walked over. She ran her fingers through her hair trying to smooth out any tangles from the wind, wishing that she had taken the time to brush her hair and retouch her makeup before sitting down to wait for him to come back.

He smiled as he sat down beside her, "I told you I'd be back."

"I wasn't worried," she lied, not ready for him to know her feelings. She studied him and saw the exhaustion in his face, but still she needed to know why he risked his life to go out there. "Was your trip a success?"

He reached out to brush a strand of hair from her face and she moved into his touch. "Would you mind if I told you about it in the morning?"

She shook her head, "Have a goodnight."

"You too," he leaned forward and brushed a gentle kiss across her lips. She wanted to pull him closer but thought against it.

Shannon watched him walk away and knew that she should go get ready for bed as well. She was pretty tired from doing more then sunbathe and tomorrow she thought she might help out again, it did feel good to be needed and to be helping since rescue seemed like a long shot now. But she knew that she wasn't going to be able to sleep, she felt guilty for not telling Sayid how worried she had been. She thought for a minute about what to do; then she made the decision to find him in his tent.

She walked carefully to his tent, looking around to see if anyone else was up, she did not feel like dealing with questions from anyone about what she was doing. Not that she was doing anything wrong, she justified to herself, she only wanted to talk to him.

When Shannon got to his tent she paused as she realized that he was already asleep. She knelt down beside him and watched the rise and fall of his chest. She had never seen him looks so still and peaceful before. The haunted look that he sometimes wore was gone and somehow he looked even more beautiful to her. He was always doing something on the island and now she got to see him rest. She resisted the urge to move the hair from his face afraid she would wake him.

"Do you plan on staring at me all night or did you come to talk to me?" he said, his eyes never opening, a small smile playing on his lips.

She had jumped when he spoke, cursing herself for not realizing that he would have known she was there, he had been a solider before. She wondered then if he ever really got any sleep with all the noise surrounding them at times.

"I didn't mean to wake you," she said softly.

"I wasn't asleep," he propped himself up with his arm, "Is everything ok?"

"No," she whispered, chewing on her bottom lip.

He looked at her concerned, "What's wrong?"

"It's stupid, I should have waited, but I needed to tell you," she paused for a second, "I lied to you."

Sayid didn't say a word; he just kept that intense gaze on her, sending shivers through her body. She couldn't stop the thought of what his hands could do to her, if his eyes had that much power.

"I told you earlier that I wasn't worried, but I was."

"You were?" he asked, his eyes betraying his surprise.

She started fidgeting, she had not thought this out and if she didn't choose her words carefully she was going to betray her feelings to him.

"When the sun went down and you weren't back, I thought something might have happened to you. I know you can take care of yourself out there, you did before, but I still wanted you to be back here." She moved closer to him, and caressed his face, "I missed you."

"Me or the translating?"

She hit him lightly on the shoulder, laughing with him. "Definitely you. Sayid," she licked her lips as she thought out what she was going to say, "Sayid, you are the first person who has ever treated me like I was important, like I was a real person and I like that, a lot. But more than that, I like you."

"I missed you too, Shannon and I like spending time with you and I would like to do more of that."

A huge grin spread across her face as she realized that he might feel the same way.

"Maybe we could do something tomorrow."

"I would like that."

They sat in silence for a moment as Shannon tried to think of things they could do together.

"Shannon, it's getting darker, would you like me to walk you back to your tent?"

Revealing some of her feelings made her feel bold, "Could I stay here with you?" she asked softly.

Sayid hesitated a moment before holding out his hand to her. Once she took it, he pulled her gently into his arms. She rested her head against his chest and felt safe for the first time.

His lips passed over her hair as he told her goodnight. She snuggled closer to him as she realized that she had just given him a piece of her heart. Maybe in time she could give him all of it, but for now sleeping in his arms was enough. She couldn't wait to see what the future held for them, as she drifted off to sleep.

The End


End file.
